August 29, 2012

Texas cornerback Diggs not slowed by surgery, ready for opener

Texas sophomore cornerback Quandre Diggs is healthy following off-season wrist surgery and ready to build on an impressive freshman season.

Diggs will start at right corner when the Longhorns host Wyoming in the season opener on Saturday. He had successful left wrist surgery
on March 24 and missed the spring game on April 1. But Diggs was not limited by the injury during fall practice.

"Does not seem like it," defensive backs coach Duane Akina said on Wednesday. "I was concerned because we're a big press and man coverage team and he's a physical corner who likes to get hands-on.
That was a concern initially, but he has handled that extremely well. He's good to go and he's playing with a lot of confidence."

That's good news for the Longhorns, who will ask a lot from
Diggs again this season.

In addition to starting in the secondary, Diggs will return punts on Saturday. As a freshman, he returned nine punts for 181 yards and 19 kickoffs for 371 yards.

"We're excited that we're having a veteran returner come back," Akina said. "This year we're excited about Quandre being that principal weapon."

Missing time in the spring does not seem to have slowed Diggs' progression. The Texas coaching staff praised his awareness and high
football IQ as a freshman and expects him to take the next step in 2012.

Diggs started 11 games last season and tied a school freshman record with four interceptions, a team-high. He was named the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and was second team All-Big 12. Diggs had 51 tackles and forced two fumbles.

"I see good growth, I see a guy that has not rested on last year," Akina said. "We have challenged him with that. Quandre has answered the challenge that he had a great freshman year, he's heard about people coming back as sophomores being not as productive and he understands that."